Once again, thousands of passengers do face travel chaos after talks aimed at averting the British Airways strike collapsed. A five day walkout by thousands of British Airways cabin crew members is now almost certain to go ahead as of today. This should lead to widespread disruptions for travelers despite British Airways’ best efforts.

The leader of the Unite union, or the union that is representing the British Airways cabin crew, Tony Woodley, said that there had been a catastrophic breakdown in talks. He indicated that there was very little chance of negotiations resuming before the planned walkout.

The airline, which just recently announced record losses, said that the plans were in pace to allow flights in a vast majority of airports to continue. Passengers are still being warned to expect delays and cancellations as the first of three planned strikes get underway.

The talks that are aimed at settling the dispute ended in disarray over the weekend when scores of demonstrators stormed the building in central London where the meeting was being held. There was further controversy as British Airways accused Derek Simpson, the joint leader of the Unite union, of sending Tweets throughout the afternoon giving a running commentary of the negotiations.

Mr Walsh, the chief executive officer of British Airways, said that there was an opportunity of a breakthrough if talks could be reconvened this week. However, if the strikes go ahead at midnight, then the airline is ready. He said that British Airways will be flying tomorrow. They will not be grounded by the actions of a tiny minority who are clearly out of touch with reality.

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Filed under Business & Finance, Travel News, UK News

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This entry was posted on Monday, May 24th, 2010 at 10:15 am and is filed under Business & Finance, Travel News, UK News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.